With five months still until it goes on sale – April 2013 – we find ourselves in the pit of a Jaguar F-TYPE obsession.

The haters say it’s too heavy (250kg more than a Porsche Boxster) and complain about it being automatic only (though Jaguar have let it be known the F-TYPE will be first in line for a new manual gearbox).

The biggest gripe though has been about the price. The 340bhp V6 base model starts at a hefty £58,500 rising to £79,950 for the 495bhp V8.

So it’s quite irritating to find out that in America the V6 will sell for $69,000 (£42,993) and the V8 at $92,000 (£57,330). That means the most expensive F-TYPE in America is cheaper than the cheapest UK car (currency conversions by www.xe.com).

Oh well, we’d still buy one if we could.